Why is it that people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) feel impelled to engage in repetitive, ritualistic behaviors? A new study, published in the July American Journal of Psychiatry, may offer one explanation.
The study found that individuals with OCD are impaired in their ability to control goal-directed behaviors. Goal-directed behaviors in turn are known to depend on nerve circuits in parts of the brain known as the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum. These nerve circuits have also been implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder by other scientists.
